1. Field of the Invention
The present invention is directed to a closure for a receptacle containing no loose parts. More specifically, the cap is attached to the container so as to form a receptacle which may be locked in either an open or in a closed position without removal of the cap from the receptacle.
2. Description of the Prior Art
Most pill bottles and similar such devices currently existing utilize a cap and a container, the cap being separable from the container. Such a construction has the distinct disadvantage that the cap may become lost, dirty or contaminated when removed from the container. Additionally, when the cap of the container is removed, there will exist a large opening at the top of the container which was formerly enclosed by the cap. This large opening will also allow the container and/or its contents to become contaminated or dirty.
It is known that a dispensing opening for a pill bottle may be provided on the vertical portion of a cap. In U.S. Pat. No. 662,353 a vessel for powdered or granulated material is described wherein the vessel has registered openings in the vertical side wall portions of the vessel and a cover to form a dispensing opening. The two parts may be converted to a unitary construction by reaming or crimping the edge of the cap into the vessel. U.S. Pat. No. 1,775,959 discloses a dispensing receptacle with a removable top wherein the receptacle also has registered openings in the vertical side wall portions to form a dispensing opening. However, both of these patents disclose receptacles wherein a horizontal rotation aligns the registered openings and there is no locking position to ensure that the openings will remain in the open or closed position.
Previous devices have also been designed wherein the cap is displaced vertically so as to align dispensing openings. In U.S. Pat. No. 3,305,145 a dispensing container is disclosed with two annular processes which receive a projection and retain a cap in product dispensing and body closing positions. In U.S. Pat. No. 4,295,584 a side dispensing disclosure is disclosed wherein the container can be opened by a pull-up slide arrangement designed into the container and closure. However, neither of these patents is directed to a receptacle in which the degree of difficulty of either opening or closing the cap may be varied between the range of extreme difficulty to very little or substantially no difficulty. Instead, these references are merely directed to dispensing openings. Neither reference discloses a locking mechanism wherein the cap must overcome vertical as well as horizontal restraints in order to change the locked position of the cap between an open and a closed position.
It is also known that pill bottles may be provided with a spring so as to bias the cap of the pill bottle. In U.S. Pat. No. 3,355,067, a rotatable cap alignable with dispensing openings in the container is provided with a relatively complex locking mechanism designed to indicate the last previous time when the dispenser was opened. In U.S. Pat. No. 3,871,522, a spring is utilized to form a self-closing safety container for medicinal tablets wherein the cap and the container will be held in a non-aligned position by means of a spring unless the cap is turned in a circular direction against the pressure of the spring. Neither of these patents is directed to a receptacle which may be locked in a closed or in an open position, a change in position requiring both vertical as well as horizontal movement so as to overcome a transition mechanism which may be of variable difficulty with respect to the desired change in position.